Earlier this week, a school bus driver in southeast Oklahoma City was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) after crashing into at least five different cars. According to KFDX News Channel Three, the wrecks happened somewhere between I-35 and Robinson, on SE 15th Street. Thankfully, no students were on the bus at the time of the crashes, but it is believed that the driver was on the way to pickup the children prior to the apparent drunken rampage.
Bus Driver Charged With DUI
Witnesses began calling in reports about an erratic school bus that was crashing into multiple cars on 15th Street. The bus struck at least five different cars in five different crashes. Odis Pitts, the 58-year-old bus driver, was found unconscious after the bus finally came to rest after going up an embankment and hitting a railroad bridge. He was taken to a local hospital and is now facing multiple charges, including one count of DUI/Drugs, leaving the scene of a crash and leaving the scene of an injury crash.
School Bus Safety in Texoma
Although school buses are built to safely transport children to and from school each day, they’re not completely without risk, especially for other drivers. The safety of children on the school bus is due in large part not only to the design of the bus, but also to the safety and care of the bus driver. School bus drivers owe a duty to other roadway users to operate their vehicles with the utmost care, whether children are onboard or not. School buses are much larger and heavier than smaller vehicles, and they can do a lot of damage to smaller passenger cars and trucks.
School Bus Crash Facts
- From 2003 to 2012, there have been 1,222 school-transportation-related fatal motor vehicle crashes.
- Of those crashes, there have been 1,353 people killed.
- Occupants of school transportation vehicles accounted for 8 percent of fatalities during that same time frame.
Multiple Injuries in Bus Crash
According to KFDX News Channel Three, at least one person has sustained a serous neck injury and another person may have had a hand amputated as a result of the crash. At this time, very few details have been released, but the team at the Altman Legal Group wishes full and swift recoveries for each of the injured victims. This incident is still under investigation with law enforcement authorities.